Notre Dame is set to hire Chris Ash as its defensive coordinator, CBS Sports' Matt Zenitz reports. The former Rutgers coach replaces Al Golden, who departed his post to take the s

Notre Dame football is looking at Chris Ash to fill its defensive coordinator vacancy after losing Al Golden to the Bengals.

Golden's defense was one of the nation's best and ranked fifth nationally in scoring at a minuscule 15.5 points allowed per game. The veteran unit was the product of Golden's three years in the coordinator role and closed the 2024 season just shy of a national title.

Al Golden agreed to return to Cincinnati on Wednesday after three seasons as Notre Dame's defensive coordinator, a person with knowledge of the decision told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the decision has not been announced. More: 3 Wolverines, 3 ex-Spartans make ESPN list of top 100 college football players from '24-25

Al Golden said he wanted to leave a place better than when he found it, and he believes he did that at Notre Dame.

The Cincinnati Bengals defensive coordinator job has been open for more than two weeks now, but there hasn't been much movement on a possible hiring and now we know why: The team was waiting for Notre Dame to finish its season.

Golden replaces Lou Anarumo, who led Cincinnati’s defense for six seasons. Anarumo was hired as the Indianapolis Colts defensive coordinator on Monday. Cincinnati ended the season on a five-game winning streak to go 9-8, but missed out on a playoff spot for the second straight year. A major reason for that was the defense.

The Fighting Irish have been on the lookout for a new defensive coordinator following Golden's move to the Cincinnati Bengals of the NFL and appear to be keen on an ex-Rutgers head honcho

This now leaves Marcus Freeman with the task of finding only his second defensive coordinator as he enters his fourth season at Notre Dame. Initially, there were rumors that Freem